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Nessmuking.com: Lightweight Canoe and Kayak Travel

Sample Gear List

Bryan Hansel's Current List

Bryan's Notes: The following list is the gear that I used recently on an overnight trip on the Vern River Route in the Boundary Waters. I had planned on a two night trip, but decided to cut out early the second day. There was enough room in the pack for three more days of meals, but not much else. I also carried a tripod inside the 35HD pack which isn't included in the gear list below. My camera was carried separately in a Sealline 10HD. I carried a Nikon D70 and two lenses plus a couple of filters, memory cards, and an extra battery. When doing portages, I strapped both spare paddles into the canoe, threw the pack on my back, hoisted the 32 pound Bell Magic on my shoulders, and carried the 10HD in my hand. This made for fast single carry portages, which was a real plus while bush whacking and on the 240 rod portage.

This list itself is slightly heavy. There are several places where I could improve it, and these include a reduction in weight in clothing by probably a pound by upgrading to newer and lighter and warmer items. The shelter and bag system could also probably be reduced in weight. By switching to a lighter new and hightech tarp bivy sack system I could shave a pound off, and another half pound could come off of the bag. I went a little heavy in the kitchen also on this trip, because I didn't feel like using a pop can stove. All in all, I could probably easily drop 3 to 4 pounds out of my pack, and if I was really trying, I could drop it down to 8.5 to 9 pounds before consumables.

A few other items of interest are my canoe and paddles. I use a ZRE Lightweight Carbon Bent Shaft which comes in a 8.5 ounces, a wood paddle which is 1.5 pounds, my Bell Magic outfitted with the seatcover, painters and bungies is 32 pounds, and my lifevest is a Stohlquist Brik, which doesn't weigh very much at all.

All in all, this is a pretty plush and all around kit for early spring and late fall travel. In the above picture, you can see everything that I carried, except the camera and 10HD bag it was carried in. The picture below is a tarp set-up that I've been using lately. It's easy to set-up, weather proof, and only requires 4 stakes.